[Translator: It is past midnight and i am translating with rage. But... the hokage is our MC, madara aint doing shit]
Cold kunai tore through the air, letting out a deadly whistle as they struck from impossible angles!
"Enemy attack!!"
Kakashi's warning rang out almost simultaneously with the piercing clash of metal.
His reaction was astonishingly fast. In an instant, he drew the short sword from his back and blocked the strike aimed at Rin's back, sending sparks flying.
Obito reacted a split second slower. He hastily threw a handful of shuriken to intercept another enemy emerging from underground, but the attacker dodged them with ease.
Another enemy slammed a heavy punch into his ribs.
"Urgh!"
A sharp pain shot through Obito's body as he was sent flying uncontrollably, crashing hard into the trunk of a thick tree.
"Obito!"
Rin cried out and immediately formed hand seals.
"Medical Ninjutsu: Mystical Palm Technique!"
A gentle green glow lit up her hands, but two enemies pinned her down before she could reach him.
There were five attackers in total.
Their bodies were wrapped in tight black clothing, and strange masks completely concealed their faces.
They moved swiftly and silently, coordinating with terrifying precision as though they all shared the same mind.
Even more unsettling was their chakra.
It felt strangely unnatural, carrying an inhuman coldness and a sticky, suffocating sensation.
Kakashi found himself under tremendous pressure as he fought three enemies alone.
His eyes darted constantly, tracking every tiny movement they made.
Their taijutsu was bizarre.
Their bodies twisted into impossible shapes, joints bending in ways that defied common sense as they launched vicious attacks from unpredictable angles.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
Finding a brief opening, Kakashi rapidly formed hand seals and unleashed a violent torrent of water, temporarily forcing back the enemy in front of him.
But another attacker slid across the ground like a boneless snake, thrusting a kunai straight toward Kakashi's ankle.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
At the critical moment, Obito endured the agonizing pain in his ribs and completed his hand seals.
A massive fireball roared forward.
Although it wasn't at its strongest, it successfully forced back the enemy trying to ambush Kakashi. The scorching flames drove the attacker backward, even charring parts of his clothing.
"Nice one, Obito!"
Kakashi shouted, his eyes sharp.
"The way they're moving is really strange!"
Rin struggled to block incoming attacks with her kunai as she spoke anxiously.
Her medical ninjutsu offered little direct support during a battle like this.
"They're not ordinary shinobi!"
Gritting his teeth, Kakashi noticed that one enemy's arm had been grazed by Obito's fireball.
Instead of bleeding, the wound oozed a white, mud-like substance before healing at an astonishing speed.
"Be careful!!"
The battle reached a stalemate.
Eventually, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin regrouped and stood back-to-back, desperately resisting the assault.
Although Obito was injured, the Sharingan's enhanced vision allowed him to barely keep up with the battle. He repeatedly launched Great Fireballs to disrupt the enemies' coordinated attacks.
Rin focused on covering every opening, using precisely aimed shuriken and simple genjutsu to create opportunities for her teammates.
Individually, these white enemies didn't seem much stronger than they were.
But their incredible resilience and bizarre taijutsu made them unbelievably troublesome.
Several seemingly fatal attacks landed squarely on them, only to slow them down briefly before their wounds regenerated almost instantly.
"We can't keep fighting like this!"
Kakashi growled, his chakra rapidly draining away.
"Obito! The one at the front left! Maximum-power Fire Release! Rin, keep the enemies on the right occupied!"
"Got it!"
"Yes!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Putting everything he had into it, Obito unleashed an even larger and hotter fireball than before.
At nearly the same time, Rin hurled several shuriken attached to explosive tags toward the enemies on the right.
The explosions and flames temporarily split the battlefield.
A cold light flashed through Kakashi's eyes as he seized the fleeting opportunity.
"Lightning Cutter!"
The piercing cry of countless birds ripped through the night as dazzling lightning gathered in Kakashi's right hand.
His figure became a streak of blue lightning, instantly piercing through the enemy whose movements had slowed after being scorched by the flames.
Slash!
This time, it wasn't just a superficial wound.
The destructive force of Lightning Cutter completely destroyed the enemy's body.
The attacker stiffened before rapidly shriveling and collapsing like a punctured balloon.
In the end, it dissolved into a pile of white, reed-like fibers that scattered across the ground before evaporating like melting snow, leaving behind neither blood nor a corpse.
"What?!"
Landing on the ground, Kakashi panted heavily as he stared at the bizarre sight in disbelief.
The remaining four white enemies froze simultaneously.
Even they seemed unable to comprehend their companion's death.
"It... it worked!"
Obito exclaimed in surprise.
"We have to destroy their vital points! Or completely obliterate them with powerful ninjutsu!"
Kakashi immediately understood.
Hope was reignited.
The trio's spirits soared.
Although Obito's injuries were severe, they had finally found a way to defeat their enemies.
Their fighting style changed immediately.
Kakashi no longer tried to wound them.
Instead, he searched for opportunities to finish them with Lightning Cutter.
Obito continuously unleashed Fire Release to create chaos and inflict heavy damage.
Rin abandoned medical ninjutsu altogether, focusing entirely on using traps to restrict the enemies' movements.
Another white enemy was struck head-on by Obito's Great Fireball before Kakashi followed up with a fatal blow.
Like the first one, it dissolved into white matter before vanishing completely.
The remaining three enemies exchanged glances before suddenly charging at Obito with complete disregard for their own safety.
Clearly, they had identified the badly injured Obito as the weakest link.
"Protect Obito!"
Kakashi shouted as he stepped in front of him, his short sword becoming an impenetrable wall.
Rin desperately threw every weapon she had.
Thud!
The dull sound of flesh being pierced echoed through the battlefield.
One white enemy's arm suddenly stretched like rubber, slipping around Kakashi's defense as a sharp bone spike shot from its fingertip and stabbed straight into Obito's right shoulder.
"AAAH!!"
Obito screamed.
Blood instantly soaked through his clothes.
The overwhelming pain and the disruption to his chakra nearly caused him to lose consciousness.
"Obito!"
Kakashi's eyes widened in fury.
Lightning Cutter erupted once more, instantly vaporizing the attacker.
Seeing this, the final two enemies abandoned the fight.
Their bodies suddenly sank into the ground as they attempted to escape using Earth Release.
"You're not getting away!"
Suppressing the overwhelming exhaustion from his nearly depleted chakra, Kakashi gathered every last bit he had left and predicted one enemy's underground path.
"Earth Release: Hound Fang Technique!"
A muffled explosion came from underground as one enemy was forcibly driven halfway back to the surface.
Rin immediately threw every remaining explosive tag she had.
Boom!
When the explosion subsided, that enemy had also been completely destroyed.
The last attacker successfully escaped underground, disappearing without a trace.
The battle was over.
The battlefield was a complete mess, yet strangely clean.
Only the scattered kunai, shuriken, burning trees, and the blood pouring from Obito's shoulder proved how fierce the battle had been.
"Obito!"
Rin rushed to his side immediately.
The green glow of Mystical Palm Technique once again lit her hands as she pressed them against his wound, her face pale with fear.
"Hang in there!"
Supporting himself with his sword, Kakashi gasped for breath as a powerful wave of dizziness washed over him.
Looking at the rapidly disappearing white residue left behind by their enemies, he frowned deeply.
"What... exactly were those things?"
His hoarse voice was filled with confusion and lingering fear.
He had never encountered enemies like them before.
"I... I don't know..."
Obito weakly shook his head, cold sweat covering his forehead.
"But... they were definitely after us... That mission..."
Kakashi and Rin's hearts sank at the same time.
Yes.
The emergency mission had been a trap.
A trap that had used Rin to lure them out of Konoha.
"We have to report this to the village immediately!"
Kakashi forced himself to stand.
"Rin, how's Obito?"
"I've stopped the bleeding for now, but the wound is very deep. His bones and chakra pathways might be damaged!"
Rin's voice trembled with panic.
Kakashi looked at Obito's pale, exhausted face.
Then he glanced toward the dark forest and the faint glow of Konoha's barrier in the distance.
Gritting his teeth, he crouched down.
"I'll carry him. Rin, you're on lookout. Let's move!"
Just then...
Rin suddenly stopped moving.
A faint red glow appeared in her eyes.
Thud!
Thud!
Two dull sounds echoed through the forest.
Before either Kakashi or Obito could react, both of them collapsed unconscious at Rin's feet.
...
The following morning, inside the Hokage's office.
Chiya had just finished reviewing a budget report for the development of new ninja tools.
He picked up the hot tea Mikoto had prepared for him, but before it reached his lips...
The office door was knocked on urgently.
Without waiting for permission, it was pushed open from the outside.
Minato Namikaze strode in with a grim expression.
The warmth and sunshine that usually filled his blue eyes had vanished, replaced by anxiety and disbelief.
"Lord Hokage! Something's happened!"
Chiya set down his teacup and looked at him calmly.
"Report."
"Kakashi, Obito, and Rin never returned last night!"
Minato spoke rapidly.
"I checked the training grounds they usually use and their homes this morning, but none of them were there.
I also questioned the Barrier Team and the guards. They confirmed that the three of them left the village last night.
The reason they registered was..."
He paused, his expression darkening.
"They claimed they were carrying out an emergency mission assigned by me?"
Minato's face was filled with confusion and guilt.
"But I spent the entire night in the ANBU headquarters assisting Lord Sakumo with security inspections. I never assigned them any mission! Let alone an emergency one!"
Chiya frowned slightly.
He accepted the copy of the barrier checkpoint registration that Minato handed him.
It clearly bore Rin's signature, along with a blurred Hokage Office seal.
"And..."
Minato's voice grew even heavier.
"At dawn today, a patrol team discovered signs of a fierce battle in the forest northeast of the village. There were traces of Fire Release, Lightning Release, explosive tags, and... a small amount of blood, which has already been collected for examination."
"But strangely enough, no one heard any unusual sounds last night. There weren't any bodies either. In fact, apart from our Konoha shinobi's blood, there wasn't a single trace of anyone else's."
Chiya lightly tapped his fingers on the desk, his gaze growing deeper.
Missing...
A forged mission...
Vanishing traces...
Every clue rapidly connected inside his mind.
Minato continued analyzing the situation anxiously.
"Could this be retaliation from another village? They might have struck in secret right after the Five Kage Summit ended. But why target a few genin..."
"It wasn't them."
Chiya interrupted calmly, his tone certain.
Minato froze.
"It wasn't?"
Chiya stood up and walked to the window, overlooking the Konoha Village that had only just awakened.
His gaze seemed to pierce through space itself, reaching the deepest shadows hidden within the shinobi world.
"This style..."
"Forging a mission. Exploiting trust. Setting up a precise ambush. Strange enemies who vanish without leaving a trace..."
Chiya's voice turned ice-cold.
"This is Uchiha Madara's work."
"Uchiha Madara?!"
Minato cried out in shock, disbelief written all over his face.
"But wasn't he long..."
"Dead?"
A cold smile curved across Chiya's lips.
"For someone like him, the concept of life and death may not be the same as ours."
"He's been hiding in the darkness all this time, watching the world like a rat lurking in the sewers."
He turned around and looked directly at Minato.
"His target is most likely Obito."
"Those eyes... and that heart of his... one that's easily driven to extremes."
"He wants Obito to despair at this world, awaken those eyes, and become his representative in the outside world to carry out that ridiculous Eye of the Moon Plan."
Chiya spoke with undisguised contempt and a faint killing intent.
"Manipulating people's hearts and creating tragedies. That's always been his favorite method."
Minato was completely shaken.
Although he didn't fully understand what the Eye of the Moon Plan was, the information Chiya had revealed was already terrifying enough.
The legendary Uchiha Madara was still alive.
Not only that, he had been plotting in secret all this time...
And now he had even targeted Minato's own students.
"Issue the order immediately."
Chiya's unquestionable voice instantly regained the decisiveness expected of the Hokage.
"With the highest priority, dispatch every available reconnaissance team and every ANBU unit. Use the battlefield as the center point and conduct a full search in all directions, with special focus on the northeast. Activate every tracking secret technique and every available summoning beast."
"Issue an emergency mission and mobilize every idle chunin and jonin to expand the search area."
"In addition, place every entrance and exit of the village under strict surveillance, especially the weaker sections of the barrier. Assign more sensory shinobi there."
"We must prevent the enemy from using a diversion or infiltrating the village again."
"Notify the Medical Corps and emergency response teams to remain on standby at all times."
One clear order after another was swiftly relayed through Minato and the ANBU members who had hurried over after hearing the news.
Minato acknowledged the orders and immediately left to carry them out.
Only Chiya remained inside the office.
He looked out the window once more, his eyes dark and profound.
Uchiha Madara...
You finally couldn't resist making your move.
And the very first people you targeted were Obito and the others.
An icy light flashed through Chiya's eyes.
He had originally intended to finish reorganizing Konoha before slowly dealing with those rats hiding in the shadows.
But now...
Madara had reached out first.
In that case...
Chiya would sever that hand...
Along with its owner.
Finding his students was important.
But stopping Madara's plan was even more important.
Obito's innocent heart could indeed be consumed by darkness after experiencing enough suffering and deception.
"Despair..."
Chiya muttered softly, his voice as cold as a blade.
"Madara, you want to use despair to create your puppet."
"Then I'll show you what true hope looks like..."
"As it crushes despair."
He pressed a communication button on his desk.
"Have Nara Shikaku and Hatake Sakumo report to me immediately."
"And inform Uchiha Fugaku to select the Uchiha Clan's finest shinobi and have them stand by."
The situation instantly became both complicated and urgent.
Beneath Konoha's flourishing branches...
Ancient shadows stirred once more.
This time...
The Fourth Hokage, Uchiha Chiya, would never stand by and do nothing.
Like invisible ripples spreading across water, the search order quickly reached every corner of Konoha.
Countless shinobi squads shot out of the village like arrows released from their bows.
Meanwhile...
Deep within a dark, damp underground cavern far away from Konoha...
A carefully planned "performance" had only just begun.